Whilst weathering the storm of Covid-19, Paessler research found IT teams were able to successfully monitor the network during the pandemic, but supporting home workers was more challenging with problems connecting to corporate systems from the employee’s home.
Since mid-March businesses around the world have had to cope with remote working and rely on virtual access to business functions. Over the past seven months, IT teams have had to adjust accordingly to keep corporate systems and networks up and running. In a survey of UK IT teams, Paessler found that 87% highlighted that they feel as though they have been able to effectively monitor the network, despite enforced remote working.
When asked about how their corporate IT systems have fared with more employees working from home, over half (59%) agree that their systems have coped very well – just 5% said there had been challenges. Amongst those that admit to having struggled over the past few months, 30% narrowed the crux of challenges faced down to staff shortages within the IT team.
It goes without question that the initial lockdown created a few teething issues, with the biggest IT and network challenge during the pandemic being connectivity issues at employee homes. In second place, 31% of IT admins named issues with video conferencing technology, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, as the next biggest challenge when it comes to remote working.
Having been able to effectively monitor the network during these unprecedented times, many are now looking to the future. Within the next 12 months, over a quarter (27%) of IT teams are planning to include cloud services within their organisations monitoring scope, whilst nearly one in three are looking to include IoT within the monitoring mix in the next three years.
Martin Hodgson, Country Manager UK and Ireland at Paessler AG, said:
“The pandemic has shone a light on the important role network monitoring plays within day-to-day business functions. Over the last seven months, we have seen just how the industry has been able to pivot, adapt and, in some cases, thrive just by being able to rely on secure, reliable and efficient network monitoring systems that are needed now more than ever. With the survey highlighting confidence within the industry, the industry is increasingly being seen as a key contributor to business continuity, which boasts of a bright future overall.”
